Friday, the failure at the Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, Georgia marked the 10th bank failure this year. The bank was built upon on real estate lending, which played very volatile for the bank under current conditions. Regions Bank of Birmingham, Ala will assume all of Integrity Bank's $974 million in insured and uninsured deposits, with the FCC retaining nearly $1.1 billion of the company's assets. The FDIC estimates that Integrity's failure will cost the insurance fund $250 to $350 million.

As part of Microsoft's strategy to catch-up with online competitors including Google and Yahoo, Microsoft has agreed to acquire Greenfield Online Inc. for $486 million. Greenfield operates popular shopping sites in Europe. Microsoft, who currently has 9 percent global search share, has an even lower share overseas. The move is aimed at helping Microsoft provide more services to help consumers find products on the Internet.

General Motors, the largest U.S. manufacture recalled nearly 1 million sedans, SUVs, and pickup trucks world-wide due to a potential short circuit related to the mechanism that heats windshield-wiper fluid. The agency reported that the short circuit could cause other electrical features to malfunction, and could possibly lead to smoke or fire.

The U.S. economy grew by 3.3 percent in the second quarter from April to June as consumers spent their stimulus checks. Also the weaker dollar has led to a large increase in exports to foreign countries. The growth has been the highest amount for the U.S. since mid 2007. Economists on average had only been anticipating a growth rate of 1.9 percent.

Comcast, the nations largest cable Internet provider, has finally official set a limit for what it deems as excessive Internet usage. The company announced that subscribers who transfer over 250 gigabytes of data within one month may receive a warning call or possible lose their Internet service. As streaming video continues to become more popular on the Internet, ISPs are wrestling with how to handle the increase demands for bandwidth.

Dell Inc reported that for its third physical quarter earnings fell 17 percent compared to the same period a year prior. The company announced nearly $16 billion in revenues; however, lower profit margins led by increased cost cutting measures severely hurt the company's earnings. Overall, Dell reported earnings of $616 million or 33 cents per share.

Not but three years after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the gulf coast, now New Orleans residence are facing the possibilities of yet another evacuation as Hurricane Gustav gains steam. The tropical storm is currently near Cuba; however, it is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico as a Huricane by the weekend. Louisiana Governor Jindal stated that he may declare a state of emergency as early as tomorrow.

Despite mounting bank failures, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp sees no current need to seek help from the U.S. Treasury Department in order to bolster reserves. During the second quarter the number of problem banks rose to 117 with a combined total of $78.3 billion in assets. The FDIC has short-term lines of credit of up to $40 billion with the Federal Financing Bank, which has not been borrowed against since 1991. It also has an additional $30 billion line of credit with the Treasure Department. The FDIC is also considering other options including possibly raising the insurance premiums it charges banks.

Fuel prices continued to decline on Tuesday; however, prices are likely to increase due to Hurricane Gustav. If Gustav starts to pose a threat to oil and gas operations on the Gulf coast fuel prices could rise rapidly. The U.S. average retail price for gas is currently $3.672, much lower then the all-time high of $4.114 reached in July.

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp reported that its "problem list" of banks rose by 30 percent in the second quarter. The increase led the list to its largest total in over five years as more commercial real-estate loans began to become overdue. As of June 30th, the list has 117 banks, and the FDIC is expecting the list to get even larger as more banks deal with increased credit issues.

Microsoft's new 3d photo imaging service slowed to a crawl its first day as the new website received over 286,000 upload requests. Users created over 7,500 new "synths," which allow users to mold multiple images together into a single three-dimensional rendering.

Apple has reached a non-exclusive deal with Mobile TeleSystems, Russia's largest mobile carrier, to start selling the iPhone in Russia. Reuters reported, that a second Russian carrier has also signed an agreement. Official sales of the iPhone in Russia are likely to begin in October. The iPhone is expected to sale for 24,000 rubles or approximately $990. The price is higher then the iPhone price in the U.S.; however, it is still significantly cheaper than current unauthorized imports.

Mortgage rates are typically driven market forces; however, due to recent policy changes at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two government sponsored companies that buy the majority of mortgages issued in the U.S have increased they charge lenders for many loans especially for lenders with weaker credit scores. The two companies have also tightened their borrowing standards for individuals looking to refinance or take out cash against the value of their home. Fannie Mae increased its fees to lenders by a half of a percentage points with Freddie Mac quickly following. Many experts expect mortgage lenders to pass on these charges directly to the consumer.

Lehman Brothers, currently the fourth largest securities firm, may be a target for a hostile takeover bid. Lehman's current management is unwilling to negotiate with buyers at the company's current stock level. Buyers from Korea and China have already walked away from previous negotiations as the investment bank continues to demand too high of a price. Shares of Lehman Brothers have already fallen 77 percent over the last year as the company has struggled with high credit losses of nearly $8.2 billion over the last 12 months.

As South America is quickly becoming the next emerging market, Nissan is hoping to boost its earnings producing two new passenger cars in Brazil. The two models include Nissan's five seat Livina and seven seat Nissan Grand Livina, which are expected to go on sale at the start of next year. The news comes just after Nissan's local competitor in Japan, Suzuki Motor Corp reported it would re-enter the Brazilian market aiming to initially sell 7,000 cars the first year. Higher wages and easier borrowing costs have led to a surging demand for vehicles in Brazil.

According to a report released by the Wall Street Journal, Verizon Wireless is close to making a deal with Google. Under the agreement Google will gain a large boost in traffic from Internet mobile users. Verizon is also considering other mobile search engine providers including Microsoft.

In an attempt to challenge Apple's advertising "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC," Microsoft has signed a multi-million dollar deal with Jerry Seinfield. The advertising campaign is designed to change public perception that Window's Vista is difficult to use when compared to Apple's Mac OSX.

Gaps cost control inventory strategy seems to have paid off big for the company. Thursday the company reported a 51 percent surge in profits, as their cost cut measure helped offset the stores declining sales. The company has also reduced its capital spending forecast and plans to reduce the number of new store openings.

Microsoft announced Wednesday that it is increasing its partnership with Novell. Microsoft is planning to purchase an additional $100 million worth of Novell Linux support certificates, which the company plans to offer to its customers for a premium. Microsoft also stated that it plans to work with Novell to develop tools to help its customers deploy Windows and Linux in mixed environments.

In order to help home owners the FDIC may significantly lower mortgage interest rates for delinquent IndyMac borrowers. The news comes just after the FDIC suspended foreclosures on the more then $15 billion in loans. The FDIC is running the failed bank while looking for a buyer.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced plans to close 92 of its retail stores. The company plans to first communicate the store closing with the 500 full-time and 100 part-time employees directly impacted by the closings before publicly announcing the locations. Goodyear is the largest tire company and currently employees nearly 70,000 employees in 25 countries around the world.

Intel plans to release a new technology entitled "turbo mode" that will dynamically redistribute power to improve performance in its next generation processor Core i7, or more commonly known by its code name "Nehalem." The new CPU models are expected to beginning shipping later this year.

Stocks dropped on Monday as investor concerns towards weakness in the financial sector continue to mount. News of more losses at Lehman Brothers and more talks of the need for a bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 180 points.

Electronic Arts reported on Monday that it has withdrawn its offer to acquire Take-Two Interactive for $2 billion. This ends the company's five-month hostile take-over bid for the make of the Grand Theft Auto series. Electronic Arts stated that it withdrew its offer as the economics of the deal no longer made sense as EA was only looking to close a deal if they could complete the transaction in time for this years holiday season.

Starting on Saturday airliners may no longer have to remove their laptops at airport checkpoints. All passengers who have laptop bags, which are TSA approved as "checkpoint-friendly" will no longer be required to remove their laptop at airline checkpoints. The new bags allow X-ray machines to easily see through them. The move will speed up security lines for the more then 2 million daily airline travelers.

Microsoft's Office Open XML Format, the XML format used to save documents in Microsoft Office 2007, has gained approval from the International Organization for Standardization. The news is good for Microsoft as having an approved standard is required for gaining many government contracts.

Mohammad Ali Khatibi told Dow Jones in a telephone interview that the market is oversupplied by at least 1 million barrels a day. He stated that OPEC is considering two options. First, they are considering maintaining the current level of production and rolling over the production. The other option is to decrease its overall production.

T-Mobile will be the first major carrier to offer mobile phones designed for Google's Andriod software. Google's Andriod software provides may capabilities similar to Apple's iPhone and provides a core operating system allowing developers to easily design additional applications for the phones.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange expects to close buyout deal with the New York Mercantile Exchange by the end of next week. The cash and stock buyout was originally valued at $9.4 billion when it was previously announced earlier this year. CME Group has agreed to pay $3.4 billion in cash and about $6 billion in stock for Nymex.

Activision Blizzard announced a 2 for 1 stock split on Friday. After the split Activision Blizzard will hold about 1.3 billion shares and stockholders will receive 1 share and a stock dividend of one additional share for each share they own.

According to Wal-Mart's Chief Financial Officer, Wal-Mart is dedicated to maintain low prices despite growing pressures from its suppliers. Wal-Mart suppliers are now facing the steepest inflation in the U.S. in over 17 years as rising costs have now stretched beyond oil and food. Wal-Mart stated that they are not only trying to maintain prices, but also increase the number of price cuts in its grocery business. The company is aiming to significantly undercut prices from its competitors Target and Costco.

A Honda executive reported Wednesday that the company's new hybrid model will be priced lower than Toyota's Prius. The new five-door car will be smaller than the Civic and will compete directly with Toyota's Prius. The hybrid Prius currently sales for $21,500. Honda plans to initially sell 100,000 units in North America starting at the beginning of 2009.

Best Buy wins agreement to sell Apple's iPhone. Best Buy will become the first retailer other than AT&T to be able to sell Apple's iPhone. Shares of Best Buy rose 2.5 percent and shares of Apple rose 1.2 percent immediately following the news. Both companies declined to comment on the terms of the agreement, and at least one analyst thinks that RadioShack may still obtain a similar agreement with Apple.

TJX Cos, the owner of TJ. Maxx and Marshalls, reported that its net profit more then tripled as more consumers bought its reduced price clothing and shoes. TJX now expects its full year earnings to rise as high as $2.31 beating its earlier forecasts of $2.25.

In an interesting move, Toyota Motor is looking at exporting U.S. made trucks including its full-size Tundra to other countries. The news comes after the company has significantly scaled back its sales estimates in the U.S. and cut U.S. manufacturing jobs. Toyota now behind General Motors is facing huge excesses in its U.S. capacity as demand for its Sequoia SUVs and Tundra pick-up trucks has tumbled.

According to the Federal Reserve, the credit squeeze has deterred during the last three months. Despite initiatives to create additional credit most banks are continuing to tighten their credit standards and are making it more difficult for borrowers.

CEO Jobs stated that software sales at Apple's online iPhone store are averaging $1 million a day. In an interview with Steve Jobs, he predicted that sales from Apple's iPhone app store to reach over $1 billion in sales at some point.

Intel is reading its new Nehalem CPU architecture. It plans to sell the new generation of CPUs under the name Core i7 under the "Core" brand. The new chips are expected to be in production beginning in October.

Shares of Wal-Mart dropped 6.3 percent Friday, the steepest drop since 2002, after the company reported that it expects stores opened within one year to rise as little as 1 percent. The rise would signal the slowest gain in over five months. The company reported that most consumers have spent the U.S. tax rebate checks, which have led to the company's current spur in sales.

Wachovia Corp, the fourth largest bank in the U.S., is planning to end its mortgage lending in 19 states. The move comes after the lender continues to face massive losses related to its 2006 acquisition of Gold West Financial Corp. The bank will eliminate 125 more jobs as part of the move.

Google believes that its $1 billion investment in advertising partner AOL has eroded. The company might have to recognize losses on its 5 percent stake in AOL leading to substantial charges in future profits. AOL owner Time Warner has been looking to sell of the company as it continues to hinder the company's overall performance.

Rackspace Hosting, a San Antonio web hosting company, went public Friday. It is the first technology IPO in over six months. Shares of Rackspace immediately dove 20 percent on its first day of trading and analysts warned that the company's debut would not signal a turnaround would not signal a turnaround for tech start-ups.

According to CNN Money, Dell is scheduled to reveal a new series of ultra compact notebook computers or "netbooks" next week. The new product is part of Dell's massive effort to turn the company around.

Amongst a growing concern for consumer privacy, Yahoo has agreed to allow users to turn off targeted advertising on its websites. Last week the House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked Yahoo as well as 32 other Internet companies to disclose information pertaining to the data they collect from its web users and how that data is used with advertising. The new move will make it much harder for Yahoo click based ads to gain revenue.

Google has released a new music search service in China to provide music for free to its Chinese users. The new service provides efficient indexing capitalizes for users to access free music available from Top100.cn a site which allows users to download or stream music for free. Users outside of China are block from accessing music. Top100.cn is web site has already struck licensing agreements with over 100 labels and is currently in negotiations with Sony BMG and Warner Music Group. Over 99 percent of all music download in China is pirated. The entire Chinese music market only grossed $76 million last year despite the huge potential market.

Financial stocks went down Thursday as Citigroup agreed to to buy back nearly $7 billion of auction-rate securities it sold to its customers as well as pay an additional $100 million in penalties as part of the settlement. The settlement sends a warning across the industry that financial institutions will have to pay the price for misrepresentations in marketing and selling of securities.

Microsoft officially released its next version of its SQL Server database software. The new version offers several new features aimed at bridging the feature gap between its database server and Oracle's. The new version supports spatial data for non-uniform data and a new filestream data type designed to store files and documents efficiently.

Nissan Motors is planning to start selling cars, which will block drivers from accelerating too quickly. The new technology entitled "Eco Pedal" is being promoted as being green and safe and makes the gas pedal push upward when drivers are deemed as accelerating too quickly. Nissan says the new system aides drivers in becoming more fuel efficient. The company is also continuing to improve its collusion avoidance detection sensors, which provide alarms and automatic breaking in order to prevent drivers from driving too close to other automobiles or from accidentally steering onto the next lane.

Cisco Systems Inc. reported higher then expected earnings Tuesday and announced that it expects the economic slowdown to be relatively short-term for the company. CEO John Chambers noted that he was very confident on the company's ability to achieve 12 to 17 percent revenue growth. The company reported earnings of $2.0 billion or 33 cents per share compared to $1.9 billion from the same quarter a year prior.

HSBC Holdings, Europe's largest bank, reported its steepest decline in earnings since 2001. The company reported net income of $7.7 billion or 65 cents per share down from $10.9 billion or 94 cents per share a year prior. The company reported huge losses related to record numbers of subprime mortgage defaults and much slower profit growth from emerging markets.